Marine Biology MSc. Student | University of Victoria
MSc. Research | UVic
My MSc. thesis explored the impacts of extreme heat events on intertidal community dynamics through the lens of keystone predation. I tested how juvenile ochre sea stars (keystone predators of the rocky shore) respond to air and seawater temperatures representing typical and extreme summer conditions. An experimental approach was used to measure feeding and metabolic rates in lab, and field surveys of Pisaster body temperatures and physical condition (signs of disease) were used to validate experimental treatments. You can check out some of our findings by reading the preprint of my first thesis chapter here.
Coho Otolith Project | Juanes Lab
I collaborated with graduate students, research assistants, volunteer hatchery workers, and hatchery managers to explore abnormal otolith formation in hatchery-reared coho salmon. To better understand the prevalence of abnormal otolith across hatcheries in BC, we collected biological samples from coho and chinook salmon during the fall spawns of 2021 and 2022. We then designed, ran, and analyzed data from several experiments at Goldstream River Hatchery testing how current hatchery practices may contribute to abnormal otolith formation in coho salmon smolts. This work resulted in three academic publications (one submitted, two in prep) and informed general hatchery practices at Goldstream River Hatchery.
BSc. Research | UVic
I received a Bachelor's in Biology (Marine Concentration) from the University of Victoria in 2021. During my degree, I took part in field courses at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC), volunteered and worked as a research assistant in the Baum Lab, and completed an undergraduate honour's thesis with Prof. Julia K. Baum. My honour's thesis was largely lab-based, as I processed samples of coral reef fish tissue for stable isotope analysis and DNA metabarcoding. This project aimed to describe the isotopic niche of a generalist carnivore reef fish (arc-eye hawkfish) before and after a severe marine heatwave and along a gradient of human disturbance. Throughout my degree I developed an interest in climate change impacts on marine ecosystems, particularly in the context of food web ecology.